


Spirit Keepers

by jessi_08



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessi_08/pseuds/jessi_08
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a tough loss and noticing Alyssa crumbling, Ash grabs Hope and Alyssa to go on a mini adventure through Brasilia. They end up getting the chance to heal with the whole team at the end of the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spirit Keepers

Ash looked over at Alyssa. She looked pale, she looked trapped. Ash jogged over to her in the hotel lobby.

“What’s up Lyss?” 

“I can’t be here,” Alyssa said softly, her breathing upticking. 

“Hey, calm down.” Ash looked up and spotted Ali who locked eyes with her, her arm around Christen. “Come on, we’ll get out of here.” Ash took Alyssa’s hand in her own and tugged her toward the doors.

“Where are we going to go?”

“Anywhere, just give me a second. I’m going to grab our IDs.” Ash jogged over to Ali quickly, telling her what was happening. Ali kissed her cheek.

“Take care of her, I got my hands full too,” Ali said softly and Ash kissed the top of her head.

“You’re still my warrior princess.”

“Stay safe, my knight in shining armor.” Ash grinned then turned toward her room. As she ran toward the room she practically ran right into Hope. 

“Watch it!” Hope yelled and Ash glared at her, “sorry.”

“You know what, come on. You’re coming with.” Ash grabbed Hope’s arm dragging her into her own room. She dug quickly through her stuff, grabbing her phone and ID.

“Where are we going?”

“No clue, but somewhere. Just us keepers.”

“I don’t wa—”

“Shut up and accept it.”

“Fine,” Hope grumbled, “what are you looking for?”

“My MP3 player.”

“I got mine.”

“Perfect.”

“You have your phone too, you know.”

“Do you know how much data we use down here?”

“True.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Ash grabbed Hope’s arm again, who yanked it back. 

“I don’t need to be led.” 

“Right,” Ash smirked as they walked back out into the lobby. Hope looked up at Alyssa, walking up to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Come on kid, let’s get out of here,” Hope said as she led her out of the hotel.

“Where are you three going?” Dawn asked, eyeing them as she walked in, hands full of bags.

“Out,” Hope replied simply.

“You aren’t suppo—”

“No one is going to fuck with us, not today.”

“Be back soon.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Don’t joke… you never know after today… I don’t want that job.”

“Dawn, we love you. Even if you do tell Ali she can’t have chocolate,” Ash said, hugging the woman.

“Well today,” she lifted up the bags she had, handing one over to Alyssa, “everyone gets chocolate.”

“Thanks,” Alyssa said quietly. Dawn lifted the woman’s chin up so they made eye contact.

“Head up young one. No reason to ever be ashamed of how we played.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now get outta here.”

“We’ll be back soon!” Ash shouted as she grabbed the keys from Dawn’s pocket. The three loaded into the van and looked at each other.

“What are we going to do?”

“Follow the GPS,” Alyssa said, handing Hope her phone as Ash turned the van on. 

“Alright, the GPS it is,” Ash said putting the van in gear and pulling out into the streets of Brasilia, “Hope, you’re on music.”

“Deal,” Hope said, setting up the car for her MP3. 

“I’m feelin’ a 90s kick. Anyone else?”

“As long as it doesn’t leave this car that I have Backstreet Boys on here, we’re good,” Hope said as Alyssa and Ash shared a look.

“Secret’s safe with us boss,” Ash said as she turned the volume up. The first song Hope put on earned her a few looks from her fellow keepers, but she just shrugged them off.

“My mother hated this song when it came out,” Alyssa chuckled from the backseat.

“Well your mother isn’t here, is she?” Hope said, her head moving to the music.

“You know this is about cheating, right?” Ash asked looking at Hope who nodded. 

“It’s like he wrote about my future.”

“Oh, Hope… harsh,” Ash laughed as Hope grinned. 

“I never would’ve figured you as a Shaggy kinda gal, Hope.”

“Just this song, cause it pissed your mom off,” Hope smirked back at Alyssa, who laughed.

“It was my go-to song when I wanted to raise her anger levels just a bit more,” Alyssa admitted.

“Dude, you missed our turn!” Hope yelled, pointing at the phone on the dash.

“I did not!” Ash yelled back, “it’s the next one.” Ash turned her blinker on as they approached the next road.

“No, you fucking missed the turn! It’s a goddamn one way!” Hope yelled again and Ash glared at her.

“I did—”

“ _ Make a legal U-turn when possible _ ,” the GPS rang out and Ash stared down at it.

“Ok, I did… whatever.” Ash went to make a U-turn as Hope glared at her more.

“Next time, I drive.”

“Last time you drove, we got lost for an hour,” Ash pointed out.

“Screw you, it was forty-five minutes tops.”

“Ali wanted to kill me.”

“I smoothed it over.”

“Excuse you? I smoothed it over,” Alyssa said, pinching Hope’s arm, “and I only managed that because I texted her too.”

“You what?” both Ash and Hope snapped looking back at her.

“You think I was seriously not going to text Ali and let her know we were going to be late to your own birthday party cause we got lost? In your hometown, might I add.”

“Oh, she wins…” Ash said and Hope rolled her eyes.

“Weak.”

“Where are we even going? Ash groaned. 

“There!” Alyssa yelled, pointing to a car rental lot.

“Why?”

“Because, I had an idea,” Alyssa said as they parked. She jumped out of the back of the van and into the building. 

“We following her?” Hope asked, looking over to Ash.

“I mean, it’s the responsible thing to do…”

“Do we weigh our options?”

“We could leave her and get killed by Dawn. We could stay and possibly get killed by Dawn. We could follow, have fun and then get killed by Dawn.” Ash rattled off.

“Perfect, we die in the end most likely. Let’s see what this one’s got up her sleeves.” Hope collected her phone and MP3 player before jumping out of the van. “Hey Sharkbait, get the ball from the back.”

“After today you wan—”

“Get the goddamn fucking ball.”

“Right!” Ash said, grabbing the soccer ball from the backseat of the van before following Hope into the building. 

“Sweet! Guys, I rented a Mustang!” Alyssa grinned.

“Lyss, those cars have no back seat and there’s 3 of us.”

“What? He said it fits 4.”

“Yes, two adults and two infants with no legs,” Hope said calmly as Ash snickered.

“Oh… I’ll sit in back…”

“Naw kid, you rented it. I’ll take back,” Ash offered.

“Seriously?” Hope asked.

“Yeah, I mean come on, look how excited she is. She barely spoke all afternoon.”

“Alright, so where to next?” 

“The guy said there is a lake, called Paranoa Lake, just down the road.”

“Can we actually get near the water?” Hope asked skeptically.

“Hope, do you really care at this point?”

“Right… Ok Lyss, you’re in charge now kid.” Hope started walking out of the building, not paying attention to Ash and Alyssa as the nudged each other back and forth as they walked.

“Hurry up Ash, you gotta get your ass in the car first,” Hope scolded as they approached the Royal Blue Mustang GT, “and if you wreck this baby, Lyss… I’ll kill you before the rental company will.”

“Damn, who knew our girl had taste,” Ash said as she walked up, “Ali won’t let me have one.”

“Aw poor baby, stuck with a BMW instead.”

“Hey… don’t be mean to Hans.” Ash defended as she got into the back seat.

“You named your car?” Hope scoffed.

“Ali named my car, well, her car… he’s a hand me down.”

“Oh Ash,” Lyssa shook her head as Hope laughed. 

“Get in the car you two,” Hope chuckled as she climbed in herself. She grinned as she sat down in the car, plugging her music player in, “god I need to get one of these.”

“You want kids right?” Ash asked from the back seat.

“Yeah?”

“This can’t be your soccer mom car,” Ash complained as she lifted her legs up placing them across the back seat, “this, however, isn’t too bad…”

“Glad you like it,” Alyssa smirked as she turned the car on, letting the deep roar of the engine wash over her. 

“Damn,” Ash said, “Hans needs a brother.”

“Or sister,” Hope raised an eyebrow, “all good cars are female.”

“Says who?”

“History.”

“Herbie,” Alyssa said and Hope glared at her.

“Don’t even go there with me right now Lyssa!” Hope said causing Ash and Alyssa to burst out laughing, Hope shook her head at the two. 

“Come on Lyss, let’s hit the water,” Ash said excitedly from the back. 

“Right,” Alyssa put the car in drive and stepped on the gas, throwing Hope and Ash back into their seats.

“Fuck girl! Don’t kill us!” Hope said and Alyssa laughed.

“I forget to mention I grew up driving these?”

“Yeah just a little,” Ash said chuckling, watching as the speedometer climbed rapidly, “dude, don’t they have speed limits?”

“We’re World Champs, who needs speed limits?” Alyssa shot back and Ash shrugged, girl had a point. Hope rolled her eyes as she set up the next song to play, about to hit play when Alyssa put her hand over the screen. “Stop! I love this song.”

“Everclear?” Hope asked, a bit shocked. 

“Oh yeah man, they were huge!”

“What were you smoking in the 90s?” Hope laughed, “I grew up just north of Portland, where they’re from. They weren’t ‘huge’.”

“Ok, I liked them. They always made me happy.”

“I know this song…” Ash admitted and Hope looked at her.

“Not you too.”

“No seriously Hope.” Ash leaned forward between the two seats and turned it up a little. “Someone on the team used to listen to this with us.” Ash sat back and the three listened for a moment, till Hope’s face lit up.

“Boxx!” she shouted, “Boxx listened to this song when we needed energy.” 

“Yes!” Ash shouted and high-fived Hope, the three singing and bouncing along in the car the rest of the way to the lake. They quickly parked, Hope and Alyssa getting out.

“Hey! Let me out you lump!” Ash said as Hope stood there looking out over the lake. Hope quickly released the seat so Ash could climb out. 

“Take it in Ash,” Hope said throwing an arm over her shoulders, “take it all in.”

“Woah,” Ash said, looking out over the beautiful landscape, amazed, “I could stay here forever.”

“Same dude, same,” Alyssa said, closing her door. The three walked down to the public dock, taking their time to soak in their surroundings. 

x-x-x

Ali sighed as she reached for her phone, it had been a long, emotionally draining, day. She had just gotten through talking with Moe telling her she played well and that Jill had put too much pressure on her when her phone went off. 

_ ‘Meet me here, asap, bring team’  _ The text read from Ash and included a pin. Ali groaned, she just wanted to sleep, and possibly cry a little more. 

_ ‘Bring bathing suits for keepers’ _ the second text read and Ali narrowed her eyes at her phone. 

“Moe, get up, get your beach gear, spread the word,” Ali said and Moe looked up at her confused.

“No. Sleep,” the girl yawned and Ali rolled her eyes and pushed Moe nearly off the bed. 

“Moe come on! Ash sent me a pin.” Somehow that spurred Moe into action. She got up and grabbed a small bag with her beach stuff.

“Ready.”

“Good, now gather everyone else.” It took awhile but soon the whole team was waiting by the vans. Confused, but ready to follow Ali’s lead.

“Where are we going, Princess?” Tobin asked, her eyes still rimmed red, both arms around Alex and Christen. 

“No clue, but I trust Ash.”

“She’s with Hope, so I’m in,” Carli said.

“And Lyssa,” Julie added. 

“Let’s go,” Heather agreed, and they all piled into cars, “Ali, you drive, you know the way.”

“Right…” Ali said, looking down at her phone, “Ash, you better not get us killed,” Ali whispered as she pulled out of the hotel lot, another two vans following her. 

x-x-x

Ash grinned as she saw three vans pull into the parking lot. “Hey, be right back,” Ash shouted as she got up. Hope just waved her off and Alyssa kept swinging her legs in the water. “You made it!” Ash grinned, swooping Ali into a hug.

“Of course, I made it, you asked me to,” Ali leaned up and kissed Ash.

“Thank you,” Ash said, grinning into the kiss.

“Anytime, now you said something about a beach?”

“Right.”

“Dude! You made me get out of bed for a parking lot?” Tobin complained and Ash laughed, shaking her head. 

“No, follow me.” Ash led the way, hand in hand with Ali, over the small hill blocking the view from where the vans were parked, revealing the large inland lake. 

“Wow,” Tobin said, a bit shocked. 

“Worth getting out of bed for Tobs?” Ash asked.

“More than,” Tobin grinned as she took Alex and Christen’s hands, walking over to where Alyssa and Hope were.

“So… we can just let loose?” Lindsay asked and Ash ruffled her hair.

“Yeah kid, we can just let loose.” Ash grinned. 

“Alright Pugh,” Kelley said, wrapping an arm around the young girl’s waist, “let’s go to the beach!” 

“I can walk!” Mal groaned.

“Seriously Mal, don’t sweat it,” Emily added as she wrapped an arm around the other side of her. 

“I brought your bag,” Ali said, leaning into Ashlyn’s chest.

“Thank you,” Ash said, kissing the top of Ail’s head and pulling her close, “I love you Al, no matter what.”

“Hey,” Ali looked up at Ash, cupping her cheek, “we don’t have to figure things out now, right this moment. For now let’s go have fun with our team, start healing.”

“Alright,” Ash smiled. 

x-x-x

Hours later, Ash held Ali in her arms as the defender roasted a marshmallow over the fire Becky had built.

“You did pretty darn good Ash, look at everyone. We’re all happy again, even after today,” Ali said looking around, Ash following her gaze. She was right, everyone was content with their friends or loved ones. Tobin was fast asleep between Alex and Christen, whose clasped hands sat atop Tobin’s chest. Hope had Kelley nuzzled into her side, most likely asleep already as Hope talked to Whitney. Becky was sitting in Alyssa’s arms, Julie in her own.  Mal, Crystal, Lindsay, Moe and Kling were all fast asleep on a few towels they had spread out. Allie, Pinoe, Sam, Heather and Carli were talking quietly across the fire from them. 

“I can’t take the credit, it’s all Lyssa. Poor girl was gonna have a panic attack in the hotel, I just jumped into gear.” 

“Still, you texted for us to meet you here once everything was… well, as good as it was going to get today.”

“I guess,” Ash looked around the group again, “today sucked Ali.”

“I know, but tomorrow will be better.” 

“Hey,” Hope kicked at Ash’s foot, “it’s nearly midnight, we need to get back.” 

“Right,” the waking few helped get their sleeping friends back into the vans. 

“I’ll see you back at the hotel,” Ash said kissing Ali.

“I’ll be waiting,” Ali promised as Ash crawled back into the back seat of the mustang.

“So, I think you promised us some Backstreet Boys earlier?” Ash said and Hope laughed but turned the music on. Ali just shook her head as she watched the car disappear down the road, listening to the keepers’ laughter fade.

x-x-x

Ali tapped her foot against the tile floor as Ash walked in, head hanging low. 

“No text? Nothing? You were gone an extra half hour," Ali scolded, Ash just pulled Ali into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

“Sorry Al… we got pulled over.”

“What?”

“Apparently speed limits do count for world champs,” Hope grumbled as she made her way to her room, Alyssa shrugging, following close behind her. 

**Author's Note:**

> So this took on a life of it's own. I seriously stopped tagging people cause I got the whole team in this one. The two songs are Wasn't Me by Shaggy and AM Radio by Everclear, if you wanted to know. Let me know what you guys think of this one, little different for me, fills a bit of the Alyssa love I've been slacking on lately.


End file.
